Dear Everybody,
As I type, I can hear the familiar, gentle hissing of the hydrogen in the hoses as the crew fills the auxilliary tanks of the trusty Berner Industries Blimp, which will once again be flying me to Berlin. My show there is at Kaffee Burger on Thursday. Hopefully all the patches will hold for the trans-Atlantic journey. I’ll be floating through Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands on this tour. I hope to see you out there.
I have an announcement to make: I’m an Author. Or I will be in 2013. I’ve done the impossible–I’ve signed a publishing deal in this current terrifying state of the Book Industry. Dundurn Press of Toronto will be releasing my first novel, “Festival Man”, in September 2013. Why wait that long? Well, this is how stuff works in Publishing, they tell me. Anyway, it’s very exciting. Special thanks to my new Editor, Shannon Whibbs, for championing the book with her colleagues. Because of her, whenever I’m feeling sad and lonesome, I’ll be able to go visit my book at the library. I’ve observed before that my audience base consists largely of Odd, Bookish People Who Like to Drink–so if you’re reading this and (likely as not) you work at a book store, library, university, or some combination of the three, I hope you’ll get in touch with Dundurn and bug them to send you some copies.
Those of you in Edmonton will already know about all this, as I may have let it slip from the stage during the ebullient encore. Needless to say I had a wonderful time out in Alberta, where both Calgary and Edmonton were bona fide sellouts. Carolyn Mark took me to Lance Loree and Toby Malloy’s house in Nanton for the start of the trip. Their hospitality was supreme. Lance drove us out to his farm and we skated on the creek. It surprised me, how much good it did me. We did not fall in, although there were times when the ice made an exciting cracking sound.
Lance, also known as “Uncle Thirsty” in Canadian legend, is part of the famous musical Loree family of Alberta, the many branches of which have contributed so much great playing and songwriting to the world. He’s also always good for a corker of a phrase or two, and he did not disappoint. Referring to some shows he’s played in a bar in a town on the outskirts of Edmonton, he observed, ”That gig is like pissing yerself in a dark suit. You get a warm feeling, but nobody notices.” He looked at me meaningfully, confident in the assumption that I would know exactly what he was talking about.
But don’t let that stop you from coming up and saying hello to me on this upcoming tour. It should be an interesting one. Dachau is on the itinerary. I’ll let you know how it goes. Tour dates are below.
Yours,
Geoff
Europa Mania
Feb 23 – Berlin, Germany - Kaffee Burger, with the Painted Bird on backup. Part of the Klezmer Bund concert series.
Feb. 24 - Greifswald, Germany – IKuWo, with the Painted Bird on backup.
Feb. 28 - Mainz, Germany – Hafeneck
Feb. 29 – St. Gallen, Switzerland – La Buena Onda
March 1 - Feldkirch, Austria – Graf Hugo
March 2 – Innsbruck, Austria – Bäckerei-
March 3 – Dachau, Germany - Café Gramsci
March 4 – Munich, Germany – Corleone
March 5 – Trier, Germany – Brunnenhof, with Jon Cohen Experimental
March 6 - Duisburg, Germany – Steinbruch, with the Painted Bird on backup
March 7 – Aachen, Germany – Musikbunker, with the Painted Bird on backup
March 8 – Belfort, France – Roger’s Cafe
March 9 – Basel, Switzerland – Zum Goldenen Fass
March 10 – Lyon, France – Quand Les Souris Dansent Festival
March 13 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Nieuwe Anita
March 15 – Haarlem, Netherlands – Patronaat, with Klezmic Zirkus
March 16 – Liege, Belgium - Cinéma “Le Parc” (Droixhe), with Klezmic Zirkus
March 17 – Groningen, Netherlands – Vera
April 16 – Penticton, BC – The Elite
NorMay in a Nutshell
(More dates to come. Contact me with any ideas)
May 2 – Bryne, Norway – Thime Stasjon
May 3 – Kristiansand, Norway – Trashpop
May 4 – Stavanger, Norway – Cementen
May 5 – Bergen, Norway – Logen
May 6 – Bergen, Norway – Logen
May 10 – Trondheim, Norway – Familien
May 12 - Oslo, Norway – Manefisken. http://www.manefisken.no
May 16 – Arendal, Norway
May 18 – Alta, Finnmark, Norway – Barlia Pub
May 19 – Hammerfest, Finnmark, Norway – VERK
Canadian Summer Festival Season
June 21 – Peterborough, ON – The Spill
June 22 – Wakefield, PQ – The Black Sheep
June 23 – Skeleton Park Festival (Kingston, ON)
June 27 – Vancouver Jazz Festival – Vogue Theatre, playing support for Balkan Beat Box.
July 13-15 – Vancouver Folk Festival
July 21-24 – Brandon Folk, Music+Art Festival
July 25 – Possible Mysterious Show in an unnamed Elevated Place that Evokes Solitude, where Chronology May Alter.
July 27-29 – Hillside Festival (Guelph, ON)
August 3-6 – Artswells Festival, (Wells, BC)
August 9-12 – Edmonton Folk Festival
